At number three we have an unliky candidate, Remembering Richie: Richie Benaud & friends. Now most of us don’t think about sportsman when we think geeks, or vice versa. If anything, they are antigeeks, those whose prowess is physical, action based, and who know how to play it cool. But Richie Benaud was a man who was both a geek and a sportsman. The latter is easy to understand; he was one of the greatest cricket all rounders of his generation. But the geek part, that might surprise you. After all, what is being a geek if not being completely and totally passionate about something? And that, through the writings collected here, is the reason Richie Benaud is as much as geek as a sportsman.

2. Amazing Fantastic Incredible: A Marvelous Memoir by Stan Lee and Peter David and Colleen Doran

A more expected recommendation. Stan Lee is perhaps the most famous comic book nerd in the world, who just so happens to run one of the largest comic publishers and created many of the best know characters. In this volume Lee shares his iconic legacy and the story of how modern comics came to be. In Amazing Fantastic Incredible he shares how he began life impoverished in Manhattan, through to his early days writing comics to his taking the helm of Marvel in the 1960s.

1. Brian Cox: The Unauthorised Biography of the Man who Brought Science to the Nation by Ben Falk

Okay, so this is a safe choice. But what can we say, we are suckers for real life rock star geeks. Amoung the best know physicists in the world, Professor Brian Cox wasn’t always the brain box icon he is now. He was a capable student but did not excel at school, but got a new lease when at Manchester University, gaining a first-class honours degree and then gaining his PhD in particle physics. All the while, he played keyboards in the band D:Ream (and you thought us calling him a ‘rock star’ geek was an exercise in hyperbole). He may not be everyone’s image of a nerd (he’s just too damn handsome!), but his charm, wit and infectious enthusiasm make him the Über geek of the decade.

Not the type of geek to get you excited? Check out the rest of our biographies about all manner of people cool and geeky to find a life story that will inspire you.

Disagree with our list? What #geekread biographies have given you the courage to embrace geek life? Let us know in the comments below.